Why the real threat of the Sirius Star hijacking is not rising oil prices - but Islamic terrorism

The price of oil rose by a dollar yesterday as a direct result of the Sirius Star capture.

But the danger of these modern-day brigands goes far beyond a jump in oil prices.

The pirates are closely linked to Islamic terrorists - and this is where the real risk to the West lies.

Pirates have already seized tankers laden with benzene and could easily take a ship loaded with liquid gas.

Floating bomb: Pirates, such as the ones who hijacked the Sirius Star (above) are closely linked to Islamic terrorists

Security experts in south Asia fear that such a ship could be used as a giant floating bomb in the Malacca Straits, reducing a city such as Singapore to rubble or blocking a major shipping route carrying much of the world's trade.

How long before Al-Shabaab terrorists - the name means 'The Lads' - in Somalia countenance such an atrocity?

Everyone would feel the indirect impact as world trade ground to a halt while the price of oil went through the roof.

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The Sirius Star joins at least 14 other ships which Somali pirates are currently holding to ransom, along with more than 260 crew members. They come from dozens of nations, many of them poor and Muslim.

Although the lives of crew are at risk when the ships are stormed, or when commandos attempt armed rescues, the main objective of the pirates is to extort large amounts of cash from the ship owners, who are insured against this eventuality.

Payment is generally made by former special forces men who hand over the money in sacks and holdalls, since pirates don't have bank accounts.

The current going rate for release of an ordinary vessel varies between £200,000 and £1million.

The pirates are a by-product of the murderous anarchy that has enveloped Somalia for decades, reducing its capital Mogadishu to ghostly ruins from which half the population has fled.

There has been no effective government since 1991, certainly not in the coastal north where the pirates congregate.

As a UN spokesman remarked: 'If you give countries points from one to ten for anarchy and confusion, Somalia gets 20.'

Pirates are of three types: unemployed fishermen who have nautical skills; gunmen from the country's many armed militias, and technical experts who operate computerised navigation systems to track the target vessels.

Hijacking spate: The Sirius Star is one of at least 14 ships which Somali pirates are holding to ransom

In a country where the average wage is £300 a year, pirates make up to £15,000, wealth which enables them to take a second or third wife.

An onshore service industry has developed in ports such as Eyl, selling the pirates new homes, modern gadgets, 4x4s, and their drug of choice, khat - a chewable narcotic which comes from the leaves of an Arabian plant. There are even catering operations to feed the hostages.

The pirates are only the visible face of a problem rooted in the endemic lawlessness on shore.

Whereas once local 'businessmen' financed the pirates, now the roles have been reversed, with the cash financing drug smuggling and human trafficking.

The pirates are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Once they used fake distress lights to lure ships in shore, or pretended to be fishermen who told their victims they had run out of water to get on board.

Now they are capable of seizing a ship far out to sea, deploying spies in the home port and communications monitoring equipment to identify and track their prey.

International menace: These eight Somali pirates, arrested for trying to hijack a cargo ship, are the by-product of the murderous anarchy that has enveloped Somalia

The Sirius Star was seized 450 miles off Kenya, twice the range at which these pirates usually operate.

What can be done about this international menace? Ships from several of the world's navies are trying to deter pirates in two and a half million square miles of ocean. A convoy system might be one solution, although getting the co-operation of countries that fly flags of convenience may be a problem.

The French have been most robust in their response. They used armed frogmen to free the crew of a luxury yacht, seizing six pirates on land after a helicopter-borne sniper shot out the engine block of the truck in which they were travelling.

They are now on trial in Paris. President Sarkozy masterminded the operation, saying: 'France will not accept that crime pays.'

The Royal Navy has belatedly followed his example, most recently when Marines killed two pirates in an incident this month, although Whitehall is absurdly still concerned with the pirates' 'human rights'.

Clearly the problem requires high level coordination. The frequency of recent hijackings has led France and the U.S. to force the UN Security Council to debate relaxing the territorial waters restrictions which prevent navies pursuing pirates inshore to their bases.

Most naval experts agree that prevention is the best strategy, since all efforts to restore law and order in Somalia have failed. Few favour arming merchant sailors. If one dies, or kills a pirate, the ship is likely to be tied up for months while local authorities investigate the incident at their leisure.

Security companies have come up with non-lethal alternatives such as electrified ship's rails to repel pirates, or blinding lights and deafening sirens. Experts also recommend stationing 24-hour look-outs in pirate-infested seas. This was apparently not done on the Sirius Star.

As a last resort masters should be trained in evasive measures, zig-zagging until pirates in small boats with limited fuel give up.

Above all, with a menace that threatens China, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea, as well as the West, the world needs to respond quickly and strongly to banish the pirates.

Michael Burleigh's Blood and Rage: A Cultural History of Terrorism is published by HarperCollins.

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MICHAEL BURLEIGH: Why the real threat of the Sirius Star hijacking is not rising oil prices - but Islamic terrorism